When group solidarity (’asabiyyah) is understood as the prerequisite for state organization and, subsequently, for civilization (’umran), it can be said that solidarity provides the foundation necessary for the establishment of a lasting state and civilization, as well as for the governance of the human societies that constitute civilization. The following ideas drawn from the Muqaddimah indicate that Ibn Khaldun’s suggestions to rulers, although not entirely systematic, provide significant clues about his model of an ideal society: 1. The power of the state can only be realized through the application of law, and law can only be enforced by a strong administration or state; 2. The state can increase its power only through the people (ricâl); 3. The people cannot survive without acquiring wealth; 4. Wealth cannot be acquired without development (al-’imâre/’umran); 5. Development cannot be achieved without justice; 6. The criterion by which Allah will judge human beings (al-mîzân) is justice, and it is the duty of the ruler to ensure justice. The responsibility of the ruler or rulers in ensuring justice is to make the behavioral rules established through fiqh enforceable in society through encouraging and deterrent practices. In Ibn Khaldun’s view, if the abuse of power, luxury, and extravagance can be prevented, then the divinely grounded caliphate rooted in shari’a law can coexist with worldly sovereignty rooted in property ownership. This coexistence is possible through political sovereignty, that is, through a rational understanding of governance in which the rule of law prevails. Ibn Khaldun believed that a political authority based on justice was a prerequisite for long-lasting social life and settled culture, and he also argued that the two were intrinsically linked like matter and form. Property and civilization come into being through ’asabiyyah; that is, they gain the possibility of existence through it, and likewise, they weaken and disappear with the weakening of ’asabiyyah. In this case, justice, or justice-based governance, sustains not only property and civilization, namely social life and settled culture or customs, but also the ’asabiyyah that constitutes that property.
When group solidarity (’asabiyyah) is understood as the prerequisite for state organization and, subsequently, for civilization (’umran), it can be said that solidarity provides the foundation necessary for the establishment of a lasting state and civilization, as well as for the governance of the human societies that constitute civilization. The following ideas drawn from the Muqaddimah indicate that Ibn Khaldun’s suggestions to rulers, although not entirely systematic, provide significant clues about his model of an ideal society: 1. The power of the state can only be realized through the application of law, and law can only be enforced by a strong administration or state; 2. The state can increase its power only through the people (ricâl); 3. The people cannot survive without acquiring wealth; 4. Wealth cannot be acquired without development (al-’imâre/’umran); 5. Development cannot be achieved without justice; 6. The criterion by which Allah will judge human beings (al-mîzân) is justice, and it is the duty of the ruler to ensure justice. The responsibility of the ruler or rulers in ensuring justice is to make the behavioral rules established through fiqh enforceable in society through encouraging and deterrent practices. In Ibn Khaldun’s view, if the abuse of power, luxury, and extravagance can be prevented, then the divinely grounded caliphate rooted in shari’a law can coexist with worldly sovereignty rooted in property ownership. This coexistence is possible through political sovereignty, that is, through a rational understanding of governance in which the rule of law prevails. Ibn Khaldun believed that a political authority based on justice was a prerequisite for long-lasting social life and settled culture, and he also argued that the two were intrinsically linked like matter and form. Property and civilization come into being through ’asabiyyah; that is, they gain the possibility of existence through it, and likewise, they weaken and disappear with the weakening of ’asabiyyah. In this case, justice, or justice-based governance, sustains not only property and civilization, namely social life and settled culture or customs, but also the ’asabiyyah that constitutes that property.
